SAT I (breakdown): N/A
ACT: 34 (34M, 35R, 34E, 34S)
SAT II: 740 in Biology and 800 in Math 2
Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 3.86 UW 4.26 W
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 20/487
AP (place score in parenthesis): N/A
IB (place score in parenthesis): IB Biology (6), IB Psych (5), IB History HL, IB Math HL, IB English HL, IB Spanish SL
Senior Year Course Load: IB History HL, IB Math HL, IB English HL, IB Spanish SL, IB Chemistry I HL, Physics D
Subjective:
Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
HOSA (president and founder)
Cheerleading (Varsity for 3 years, freshmen for 1 year; runs social media for all 3 teams)
Math Team (4 years; won some competitions; director of the officer team)
FBLA (2 years; reporter)
Student Council (2 years; planned several events)
Cross-country (4 years JV; team leader for 2 years)
Tennis (2 years)
Science Olympiad (2 years)
Leflers Honors Cadre Mentorship (mentored a 6th grade for a year)
Girl Up Elementary School Leader (ran girl empowerment club for elementary schoolers)
Job/Work Experience: N/a
Summer Activities:
NCMN STEM Summer High School Intern- Spent summer after my junior year at a paid internship at my local university studying mechanical and material engineering. Presented research at the Nebraska Summer Research Symposium and Undergraduate Women in Physical Sciences Conference.
Other
State (if domestic applicant): Nebraska
Intended major(s): Biology
School Type: public school
Ethnicity: Black
Gender: Female
Income Bracket: >125,000
Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM
Those achievements are stellar in and of themselves. Being a URM and from Nebraska give admissions officers two other reasons to look carefully at your application. (But of course, there are no guarantees when it comes to a holistic admissions process.)
What are you looking for in a college, other than strong biology and premed? Small, medium or large? Rural, suburban or urban? Do you want to be in the midwest, northeast, any other particular region of the country- how far from home? Anything you want the environment to be like? Are you looking to continue cheerleading or any other activity that may not be available at some colleges? Do you want colleges where you may get more merit aid than your EFC would suggest you would get from whatever financial aid they may give your family at their salary- or will your family be happy with whatever need-based aid you may receive?
And when you say match- does that mean you already have some reach schools and safety schools? Or are you looking for a mix of all of the above?
Posters will be glad to name some colleges that match your desires, with these details to guide them. Another avenue for exploring colleges may be to read through college guides like Fiske, Princeton Review, and Ultimate Guide. These describe colleges and may help you to begin figuring out what you like.
For excellent premed support, as well as top-notch academics overall, you could look into colleges such as Brown, Haverford and Pomona. These schools generally enroll some of the country’s top students, so make sure you would feel comfortable pursuing your premed coursework among similarly accomplished peers if you consider them.
I want a small to medium size school that is either urban or suburban. I love California or east coast schools, but I am also considering some midwest schools. I am fine being far from home. I want a collaborative environment over a competitive one. I likely won’t pursue cheer, but I will do some pre-med society, and possibly a sorority, math organization, or student government. I already plan to apply to Stanford and some ivys and I have already received admittance to a safety school so now I am hoping to see what schools would be reasonable for me.
You have a chance at Stanford and Ivies, as you named them, so definitely read up on these and apply to the ones that match your interests. Maybe Yale, Brown, or Penn? Additional reaches worth considering that match your interests: Johns Hopkins, Tufts, Washington University, Wesleyan, Haverford, Swarthmore, Carleton.
Matches for you (too competitive to be considered safeties for anyone, but relatively safe for a strong candidate from Nebraska like you): Franklin and Marshall, Brandeis, Lafayette, Lehigh, Dickinson, Macalester.
Your achievements are impressive on their own, and they would make you a competitive applicant at many elite universities and LACs. However, when considered together with your status as a female URM from Nebraska (!), they move you close to unicorn territory. In short, they make your a strong candidate for the most selective schools in the land, including the top Ivies.
I do hope that you will consider applying to Rice. You seem like a good fit for that school, which provides very strong pre-med programs, an inclusive and welcoming social scene (with residential colleges instead of Greek organizations), a collaborative environment, and a beautiful, self-contained campus in a lovely neighborhood in one of the nation’s most dynamic and diverse cities. Rice is one of the few elites that offers merit scholarships; in addition, the just-announced revised financial aid program is designed to make it easier for middle-class students to attend without going into debt. Good luck!
I would say, definitely look at Univ of Nebraska. Also, I know of a few schools that would offer some great scholarships for nonresidents. Take a look at Texas State University. You’re eligible for the Presidential Scholarship, which should cover most or all of your tuition.
Another one is Alabama. You’d be looking at an almost full tuition scholarship.
A medium size urban school to possibly consider is UTSA. They offer very similar scholarships as Texas State University, because they’re both rival schools. It’s 5 minutes from Six Flags, and the Mexican food in San Antonio is unbeatable!
UMBC - University of Maryland Baltimore County. You would be a great candidate for a Meyerhoff Scholarship, which targets URM’s pursuing STEM fields. Note - the scholarship is geared more for those pursuing PhD vs MD; however, it offers awesome mentoring and research opportunities. Check it out https://meyerhoff.umbc.edu/